Vegas News December 4, 2023

Las Vegas Grand Prix Leads To Record-Breaking Weekend For MGM Resorts

Jonathan Halkyard, MGM Resorts CFO, recently spoke at the Leveraged Finance Conference. He mostly discussed how the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend went from one of the slowest of the year to the “highest-grossing weekend in hotel revenue in the history of the company.” 

We’ll get confirmation about this when the company reports fourth-quarter earnings next year.

MGM and Marriott Partnership

He also said the new hotel partnership with Marriott will begin sometime during the first quarter of 2014. I was surprised to hear that about 15-20% of hotel rooms booked at The Cosmopolitan from Marriott via cash payment or rewards. This sounds familiar, so I could just always be surprised when I hear this info. 

Halkyard said that about a third of MGM hotel rooms are booked through online travel agencies (OTAs). He hopes the Marriott deal will cut into that and increase room rates for the company by as much as $100 per night.

While he spoke mostly about sports in Las Vegas, he didn’t mention hotel room prices at MGM Resorts Las Vegas properties for the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl rates at MGM Resorts properties require a 3-night stay at the following prices pic.twitter.com/9cqH7FgZRW

— Marc (@MeltzVegas) November 28, 2023

You can listen to the discussion here.

December Is Busy – Las Vegas

December in Las Vegas used to be one of the slowest months of the year. When I first started making annual trips to Las Vegas it was during the week before Christmas. A person working for one of the hotels at the time told me they were only at about 25% occupancy during that week. 

While that week might still be slow, plenty is happening between NFR early in the month and the week from Christmas to New Year’s Eve. You can see a roundup of some of the things happening throughout the month here.

Let’s get to the rest of the Vegas News over the past couple of weeks. 

Las Vegas Quick Hits

Here’s a preview of Fontainebleau. The casino floor looks great, and I can’t wait to check it out. 

• It appears as though the sportsbook at Fontainebleau will use Station Casinos lines and odds. We should get confirmation about that next week.

• Fontainebleau dropped some information about the first resident DJ at LIV Nightclub. I’ve never heard the name, which leads me to believe he’s on the cool end of DJs. Read more here.
• Unrelated to the nightclub, LIV Golf is coming to Las Vegas next year. Read more here.
• Durango Casino opens on Dec. 5. I love everything I’ve seen leading up to the opening and will have more when it opens. I’ll probably share pics and or videos on X Twitter or Instagram.
• OPM at The Cosmopolitan is closing. Superfrico will remain open. Read more here.  
• LPM Restaurant and Bar is now open in the former Milo’s space at The Cosmopolitan. Read more here.
• Visitation to Las Vegas in October was down 0.2%. ADR was up 11%. Look forward to seeing this information for November. Read the report here.  
• Garth Brooks added 18 shows in 2024 to his Caesars Palace Las Vegas residency. Read more here.
• Carrot Top signed an extension to keep his show at Luxor until 2030. Read more here.
• The transformation of the Flamingo is continuing with another Gordon Ramsay Burger outlet. The original at Planet Hollywood will remain open. Read more here.
• Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace Las Vegas is changing to Caspians Lounge. Read more here.

• As an only child, I’ve always found easy ways to amuse myself. This week reading information about BRUNOS BELLAGIO BAR made me giggle for no good reason. Read about BRUNOS BELLAGIO BAR here.
• Waldorf Astoria, formerly Mandarin Oriental, finished the first phase of renovations. Read and see more here.
• Not included in the press release is the addition of a small marquee outside of Waldorf Astoria. Check it out here.  
• Tuscany is one of my favorite casinos to meet people. It’s close enough to the Vegas Strip for visitors to travel to and I don’t have to deal with the traffic. The casino is bringing back table games. Read more here.  
• It looks like the park near my doctor’s office is getting an art museum. Read more here.
• The park is also getting a “dual-branded hotel” without a casino. Read more here.  
• I was looking forward to checking out Bourbon Street outside of Horseshoe. That won’t be happening since it’s already closed. Read more here.
• We know you like Las Vegas casino scents but now you can buy non-casino hotel scents too. Read more here.
• All Net Arena plans are finally dead. No plans have been announced for the dirt patch next to the Sahara. Read more here.

• You can see the results from the recent Wynn Las Vegas car show here.
• This is kinda Vegas-related. Miriam Adelson is buying a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban. Read more here. 
• Heading further east, MGM Resorts announced its plans to make Empire City into a full-service casino resort. Sharing this because I spent way too much time here when it was Yonkers Raceway when I lived in the Bronx. Read more here.
• The Sphere finally announced the long-rumored Phish shows for next year. Read more here.  
• I never saw The Rockettes when I lived in New York. I did see Lassie at Radio City but that’s another story. The Rockettes are on The Sphere in Las Vegas! Read more here and see below. 

This is fun 👯‍♀️⛄️ pic.twitter.com/AYWpNJ6kEL

— Marc (@MeltzVegas) November 28, 2023